Where I write about running, marathons, Home Ownership, DIY projects, marriage, raising twins, growing up Polish and other Mysteries of Life

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Wounded Knee: Cleared to run...kinda

So it has been approximately a month since my knee surgery. Calling it surgery is a grand misnomer; it was more like a procedure. I got my knee scoped. While the doctor was looking around, he clipped my meniscus that was flapping around and getting caught in my knee cap. So now I can kneel at the pews in church without grimmacing in pain. When I go to church that is.

Unlike two of my friends who also had similar procedures, I was able to walk out of the operating room without crutches. Sure there was swelling and stitches but I got out of it a lot better than most, at least in the short term. The long term forecast is a little more uncertain. A knee replacement isn't out of the question for my future.

My knee is like a car engine with over 100K miles. If I just use it to get to the El station a mile away and run some errands on the weekend, I won't need to replace it any time soon. If I make a few trips to the suburbs, as I do for Easter, Thanskgiving Day and Xmas, it might need a replacement sooner than later. But if I try to visit my friends in St Louis twice a year for the next couple of years, the replacement knee will come sooner.

The doctor said that if he were the guardian of my knee, he'd say no more running, instead spending more time biking, swimming, spin class and/or elyptical. But we both know giving up running isn't an option. A marathon this year is out of the question anyway since planning a wedding will likely consume all my free time. And it's really nice not being tethered to a training schedule. But I will be back out there running as much as my knee will allow.